Indo-Japan diplomacy on countering China

What is the issue?

A strong Indo-Japanese partnership can help counter China, which aspires to become a hegemonic power in the region.

Where does their interests lie?

• Japan serves as India’s most important partner across the Indian Ocean neighbourhood in the past decade.
• It has set aside the serious differences in the years following the 1998 nuclear tests and has promoted nuclear energy cooperation with India.
• Both countries also recently issued strategic guidance to their respective militaries to strengthen communication to build trust and understanding.

How do they ensure co-operation with China?

• India and Japan closely cooperate on their relationship with China, including on measures to see that tensions with China do not get out of control.
• China and Japan also agreed to cooperate on maritime search and rescue missions, to set up a military hotline and commence dialogue between their militaries.
• This could avoid escalating tensions across disputed maritime boundaries in the East China Sea.
• There has been a measure of congruence in the approach of India and Japan, to maintain peace and tranquillity across their respective land and maritime boundaries with China.
• However, both of them have been challenged by Chinese territorial claims, actions and ambitions, together with China’s quest to become a hegemonic power in Asia.

What are the concerns with Chinese diplomacy?

• China is committing itself primarily for infrastructure development in India’s South Asian and Indian Ocean neighbourhood.
• However, countries in the neighbourhood region become overly dependent on China, which made them to fall into a debt trap.

• To avoid that, Myanmar recently cut down the size of Chinese investment in the strategic Kyaukpyu port, worried about walking into a debt trap.
• Economists in Pakistan express unhappiness at what they see as Chinese exploitation in the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor.
• Malaysia has also rejected Chinese offers of aid for a massive rail-road project.
• Similar sentiments are now being voiced about Chinese aid across Africa and Central Asia.

What should be done?

• Japan has significant financial and technological resources to play a major role in developmental and infrastructure projects in Indo-Pacific countries.
• Thus, India should therefore work in close cooperation with Japan on economic development projects across the Indian Ocean region.
• India should also engage with the US and EU to develop structures for multilateral investments across Asia and Africa.

Source: Business Line